Salmon

Photo courtesy of Cheri Scalf, WDFW.

Salmon are the heartbeat of Hood Canal

Hood Canal supports all eight of the salmon and trout species that use marine and freshwater systems in the Pacific Northwest. These iconic fish are a critical component of the food chain and have helped sustain human and animal populations for millennia.

Salmon are a vital species in Hood Canal, contributing to the ecological and human wellbeing of the region today. Hood Canal salmon provide:

Recreational opportunities

A cultural link, including Skokomish and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal customs, as well as non-tribal traditions in the region

An important subsistence food source that has sustained this area’s inhabitants for thousands of years

Jobs (e.g., fishing, tourism) and revenue to the local economy

An indication of the overall health of the ecosystem

A nutrient transport mechanism between freshwater and marine environments

All Hood Canal salmon and trout species face many challenges to recovery, including habitat degradation, varying ocean productivity, and changing climate conditions. Past harvest and hatchery operations in Hood Canal have suppressed healthy salmon populations; today they are being managed to help maintain and recover at risk salmonids.

Our goal is to remove these species from the Endangered Species List and sustain harvestable populations. This is central to our shared economy and the sustained health of all Hood Canal residents and visitors. And it is essential to honoring our treaty obligations to Hood Canal tribal nations.

Our salmon recovery efforts in Hood Canal show signs of success

All salmon species have unique life histories and we are developing suitable strategies to address their needs.

There are a number of large-scale efforts designed to increase the number and diversity of Hood Canal salmonids, and address the key challenges facing our recovery goals, including:

Maintain healthy Hood Canal salmon populations at harvestable levels by properly managing the annual fisheries to meet escapement needs, and allow the necessary number or fish to return upriver to spawn

Provide salmon for commercial, recreational, and subsistence harvesting by utilizing approved practices to protect the integrity of the Hood Canal hatchery programs

The Washington Legislature designated the HCCC as the Regional Recovery Organization for Hood Canal and Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca Summer Chum salmon. The Hood Canal region is also a Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Region for Chinook and steelhead; and the HCCC is its Lead Entity, responsible for the implementation of the Puget Sound Chinook recovery plan (approved by NOAA in 2007), and recovery planning for Puget Sound steelhead

Status of Summer Chum Salmon: A successful salmon recovery story

Hood Canal is home to a unique species of salmon called summer-run chum salmon. They are the first spawners to return each year, starting in August. Summer chum have been documented in most of the major rivers that drain to Hood Canal.

Summer chum are the only salmon species that does not spawn high up freshwater streams, but in the lower one or two miles of their home rivers, making river estuaries important nurseries for young fish.

The abundance of spawning fish dropped significantly in the 1970s and 1980s, to the point where several subpopulations went extinct. Their numbers rebounded in the 1990s, and are approaching the recovery goals in both the Hood Canal and Straits of Juan de Fuca populations.

Many people and organizations have come together to bring Hood Canal Summer Chum back from the brink of extinction. Major accomplishments include:

Fish harvest reforms

Short-term hatchery supplementation and reintroduction of previously wiped out runs

This trend is very encouraging, although the question remains: how much is attributed to favorable ocean conditions and how much is the result of habitat and harvest management improvements? Sustained healthy summer chum populations during less favorable Pacific Decadal Oscillation cycles will determine true species recovery.

Current and Historical Presence of Hood Canal Summer Chum

The challenges facing recovery of Hood Canal salmon are similar across all species. The survival rate and population decline in the 1970s was caused by: general habitat degradation, excessive fish harvest; and natural cycles in ocean production.

The Hood Canal Coordinating Council has drafted a list of pressures that impact salmon, these include:

Climate change is anticipated to be a significant threat in the future. Oceanic climate changes influence local seasonal weather patterns, potentially resulting in unfavorable stream flows during the winter egg incubation season. And research has found that our activities in the Puget Sound region add a measurable impact on local climate changes.

Net fisheries in Hood Canal, when combined with harvests in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, contribute to a lower number of summer-run chum salmon returning to the ocean.

Information has recently emerged that suggests the Hood Canal bridge is a barrier to out-migrating young salmon and steelhead, as well as an impediment to the circulation of oxygenated water throughout the canal. The HCCC has formed a steering committee to facilitate efforts to assess the scope and severity of the bridge’s impact and propose potential solutions.

Recent hatchery reforms have identified ways to limit impacts to wild salmonids and their genes, while contributing to sustainable fisheries.